Solar System Formation

Your Parents’ Solar System

21st Century Solar System
The 21st Century Solar System

Sun
Terrestrial
Planets
Asteroid Belt
Jovian (Gas)
Planets
Kuiper Belt
Oort Cloud
The Solar System:
List of Ingredients
Ingredient Percent of total
mass
Sun
Jupiter 99.8%
Other planets 0.1%
Everything else 0.05%
0.05%
 The Sun
• A middle-aged, average star:
– Mostly Hydrogen & Helium
– 99.8% of the Solar System
– ~4.6 billion years old
• Shines because it is hot:
– Surface Temp ~6000 C
– Mostly Visible, UV & IR light
• Kept hot by nuclear fusion in
its core:
– Builds Helium from Hydrogen
fusion.
– Will shine for ~12 billion years
The Sun dominates the Solar
System
 Terrestrial Planets
• Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars
– “Earth-Like” Rocky Planets
– Largest is Earth
– Only in the inner solar system (0.4 to 1.5 AU)
• Rocky Planets:
– Solid Surfaces
– Mostly Silicates and Iron
– High Density: (rock & metal)
– Earth, Venus, Mars have atmospheres
 The Terrestrial Planets

Mercury Venus Earth Mars

(0.055 M) (0.82 M) (1 M) (0.11 M)
 The Jovian Planets
• Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
– Largest Planets: at least 15 times mass of Earth.
– Only in the outer solar system (5 to 30 AU)
– No solid surfaces (mostly atmosphere)
– Low density
• Gas Giants: (Jupiter & Saturn)
– Thick H/He atmosphere, liquid hydrogen mantle, ice core
• Ice Giants: (Uranus & Neptune)
– Ice/rock core & mantle, thin H/He atmosphere
 The Jovian Planets

Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune

(318 M) (95 M) (15 M) (17 M)
 Dwarf Planets
• Defined by the IAU in 2006
• Dwarf Planets:
– Ceres: first of the Asteroids, discovered in 1801
– Pluto: trans-Neptunian object discovered in
1930
– Eris: trans-Neptunian object discovered in 2005
– Haumea (trans-Neptunian, suspected)
– Makemake (trans-Neptunian, suspected)
Dwarf Planets
 The Giant Moons
• Moon: any natural satellite orbiting a planet or
dwarf planet
• Giant Moons:
– Earth: The Moon (Luna)
– Jupiter: Io, Europa, Ganymede, & Callisto
– Saturn: Titan
– Neptune: Triton
• Many smaller moons, both rocky & icy.
• Only Mercury & Venus have no moons.
The Giant Moons
 Mimas Iapetus Io Ariel Umbriel
Mercury

Moon Europa
Miranda Hygeia
Pallas Proteus

Triton
Tethys Dione
Titan
Ganymede
Vesta
Oberon
Callisto
Ceres
Pluto
Charon
Rhea Titania Enceladus
 Kuiper Belt

• Class of icy bodies orbiting beyond Neptune.

– Found only in the outer Solar System (>30AU)
– Densities of 1.2 to 2 g/cc (mostly ices)
• Examples:
– Pluto & Eris (icy dwarf planets)
– Kuiper Belt Objects (30-50AU)
– Charon, Pluto’s large moon
– Sedna & Quaor: distant large icy bodies
Kuiper Belt
 Oort Cloud

• Spherical cloud of comets.

– Extends out to almost 50,000 AU (1 light-year)
– May contain trillions of comets
– The outer edge is the farthest reach of the Sun’s
gravitational pull.
– There are no confirmed observations – its
existence is theoretical only.
Oort Cloud
 The Leftovers (small bodies)
• Asteroids:
– Made of rock & metal (density 2-3 g/cc)
– Sizes: Few 100km to large boulders
– Most are found in the Main Belt (2.1-3.2 AU)
• Meteoroids:
– Bits of rock and metal
– Sizes: grains of sand to boulders
• Comets:
– Composite rock & ice “dirty snowballs”
– Longs tails of gas & dust are swept off them when
they pass near the Sun.
 Asteroids

253 Mathilde 951 Gaspra 243 Ida

Meteor burning up in the
atmosphere.
Comet P/Halley Comet P/Wilt
Movement of Earth through Space
There are two types of Earth’s movement: around its axis
and around the Sun.

Earth's rotation is the rotation of the Earth around its

own axis. The Earth rotates once in about 24 hours with
respect to the sun. The Earth rotates around its axis by
moving from the west to the east.

Earth's revolution The Earth revolves around the Sun

once every 365.242199 days.
Earth’s Axis is Tilted at an Angle of
about 23.5 degrees

The Earth is tilted 23.5 degrees on its axis, a straight line through the
planet from the North Pole to the South Pole.

The Earth spins on this axis as it rotates around the sun. The key here
is that as the Earth orbits the sun, different regions on Earth tilt both
towards and away from the sun, depending on the region’s respective
hemisphere. This causes the sun’s light and energy to hit the different
regions of the Earth at different angles throughout the course of one
orbit, or one full year.
 The Seasons
The tilting of the Earth is shaping our seasons and climate.

When the North Pole tilts most toward the sun, the Northern
Hemisphere experiences summer. This occurs when the Earth is
farthest away from the sun, and begins around June.

The sun’s energy is more concentrated on the Northern Hemisphere

where its rays hit the Earth more directly and are thus more intense.

At the same time, however, the Southern Hemisphere tilts away

from the sun, causing the sun’s rays to hit the region more at an
angle and with less intensity. This brings about winter in the
southern hemisphere.
 What is an Eclipse?
• An eclipse occurs when one object (for
example, Moon) gets in between the Sun you
and Earth and blocks the sunlight reaching
the Earth. It’s called the Solar eclipse.

• When the Earth gets in between Sun and

Moon, then it is called the Lunar eclipse.
Solar Eclipse & Lunar Eclipse
Discoveries of Copernicus and Galileo
and more recent scientists about the
Earth and Space.
Nicolaus Copernicus was one of the first
scientists to discover that the Earth revolved
around the Sun.

Galileo built a telescope and discovered many

moons. He discovered that Jupiter has 4 moons. His
telescope was not advanced enough to find all
moons of Jupiter.
Jovian planets are
also known as gas
giants.
The Moon: Interesting facts
• The Moon is Earth's only permanent natural satellite.
• The moon orbits the Earth once every 27.322 days
(nearly a month).
• It also takes approximately 27 days for the moon to
rotate once on its axis.
• The Moon always shows Earth the same face. ...
• The Moon's surface is actually dark.
• The Moon is drifting away from the Earth.
• The Moon was made when a rock smashed into Earth.
Is Pluto a Planet?

What to consider?
• Size?
• Shape?
• Orbit?
• What is it made
of?
 IAU Definition of a Planet
In 2006, the International Astronomical Union
(IAU) came up with the following definition
of a planet:
 orbits the Sun
 has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome
rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic
equilibrium shape (i.e., it is spherical),
 has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit,
 is not a satellite
IAU Definition of a Dwarf Planet
In 2006, the International Astronomical Union
(IAU) came up with the following definition
of a dwarf planet:
 orbits the Sun
 has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome
rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic
equilibrium shape (i.e., it is spherical),
 has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit,
 is not a satellite
 How many kilometers in one
astronomical unit (AU)?
• 1 AU = 149,597,870.691 kilometers An
Astronomical Unit is approximately the
mean distance between the Earth and the
Sun. It is a derived constant and used to
indicate distances within the solar
 QUESTIONS
1. What is the fuel of the Sun?
2. Does it burn, like every other fuel?
3. Where is asteroid belt situated?
4. What does terrestrial planets mean?
5. What does Jovian planet mean?
6. What is A.U. (Astronomical unit)?
7. How long the moon takes to orbit around the Earth?
8. Why Galileo discovered only 4 moons of Jupiter,
where as there are 79 known moons of Jupiter?
 Questions
9. How does the Sun generate energy?
10. The abbreviation IAU stands for what?
11. What percentage Sun’s mass comprises the
total mass of the Solar system?
12. In which unit the distance between the
planets is measured?
13. What is the name of our galaxy?
14. Name the scientist who placed the Sun rather
Earth at the centre of the universe.
 Calculate
• A light year is the distance that the light
travels in one year (in vacuum). The speed
of light is 300,000 km/s. Calculate the
distance the light travels in one year.
• The average distance between the Sun and
Earth is about 150 million kilometer. The
average distance between the Sun and Mars
is about 228 million km. The light takes
about 8 minutes to reach the Earth. How
long will it take to reach the Mars?
 The Red Giant
• In approximately 5 billion years, the sun
will begin the helium-burning process, turning
into a red giant star. When it expands, its
outer layers will consume Mercury and
Venus, and reach Earth. When stars turn
into red giants, they change the habitable
zones of their system.
 Black Hole
• A black hole is a region of spacetime
where gravity is so strong that nothing—no
particles or even electromagnetic radiation
such as light—can escape from it.
 Discussions
Suppose Earth’s axis is tilted a
bit more than 23.5 degrees,
what will happen?

How hot is the Sun?

Can we live on other planets?

 Activity
• Build the Solar System